Metallica frontman James Hetfield reveals his favorite two guitarists

Metallica frontman James Hetfield reveals his favorite two guitarists who also inspired him. A few more days ago Hetfield started working with Ernie Ball to release his first-ever guitar strings, the Papa Het’s Hardwired Master Core.

Ernie Ball introduces our latest artist-led signature string collaboration with vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield of Metallica. This new set co-developed with James Hetfield in the last decade, Papa Het’s latest Hardwired Master Core set consists of James the only available 11-50 gauge combo which is ideal for his ferocious style and his technique. The limited-edition sets are packaged inside a compact tin case featuring custom artwork by him.

In a brand new video and in collaboration in a new video and collaboration with Ernie Ball the strings, Hetfield has revealed his two major sources of inspiration when he was a young guitarist in the era of Black Sabbath riff overlord Tony Iommi as well as Ramones down-picking instrument Johnny Ramone.

Who is the inspired James Hetfield as a guitar player?

Hetfield talked about his guitarists’ inspiration:  “I’m kind of a little bit of a barbarian when I play. Always interested in the riff. It was the foundation of the song. Tony Iommi, he’s ruling the song with his riff and everything else joins him. You know, Johnny Ramone, lots of down picking lots of you know, just fast down picking. That helped develop my style. So kind of a combination of punk rock and heavy rock at the time you know turned into just the down picking style and with melody along with it.”

He also added: “It’s only taken forty years for me to get my own strings, you know?! Discovering bands like AC/DC then Judas Priest and then the whole new wave of British heavy metal came out and that was Iron Maiden, then Motorhead, and Black Sabbath for sure was a No. 1 influence for me,” stated Hetfield. “Seeing that first album cover, and seeing that first Iron Maiden album cover, it drew me right to it. I just got continually heavier and heavier as I was discovering music.”

Papa Het’s Hardwired Master Core Signature Strings features:

Papa Het’s brand new wired Master Core signature string sets were developed in collaboration with Metallica’s James Hetfield over the past decade in order to satisfy his string performance demands. The signature set is comprised of James’s favorite 11-50 gauge combo with a thicker Paradigm wire and plasma-enhanced nickel-plated steel wrap wire. These strings are perfect for James’s ferocious style and technique, providing more weight and tuning stability. The Plain strings are made of Paradigm’s core wire, reinforced with RPS brass on the ball’s edge for added durability and stability in tuning.

The exclusive signature strings are packed in a robust tin container featuring custom artwork and graphics created by James! The box is small and highly collectible. It comes with three signature string packs inside.

• Thicker sound
• Added pitch stability
• Heavier core to wrap ratio
• Never before offered gauge combination (11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 50)
• Wound strings wrapped with Paradigm plasma-enhanced nickel-plated steel around ultra high strength tin-plated steel hex cores

You can watch James Hetfield‘s thoughts about the favorite guitarists and strings below!